Friday: I planned on not working out on Friday since I would be going out later that night. I was so excited to have a girl's night, I bought some new clothes for the occasion (ok - let's be real buying new clothes for any occasion is my specialty). I headed out to meet my friends and we had such a blast dancing the night away. I got to learn some new line dancing moves and even though I felt like an idiot and bumped into some people, it was totally worth it.
Saturday (Morning): I had made plans to have a brick workout at my house with my friends at 6:30AM. Even though I only got 4 hours of sleep, everyone knows that I would never miss a workout. When the group came over at 6:30AM I was ready to go with my bike in hand. Our brick consisted of cycling 10 miles and finishing up with a 3 mile run. The cycling route went quickly, and even though we got lost along the way (momentarily, of course), we had such a great time. We managed to get the bike done in under 47 minutes, averaging around 14MPH. After the bike, we puttered around for a little bit and got the bikes organized and took some time to refuel (I of course had my Jelly Belly Sport Beans). Once we got situated, we started a nice easy run. One of the most important things about a brick workout is to understand that this workout is primarily used to develop "muscle memory." By teaching the body to run after biking, the legs develop a memory to become more efficient in this process. Therefore, the more an athlete practices bricks, the more efficient (and less painful) he/she becomes when running after cycling. Another thing to remember about this workout is that speed will not necessarily help you. Again, you are not trying to accomplish this purpose, you're just trying to build the muscle memory in your legs. The run was great and we kept it light and easy. Overall, I think it took us 33 minutes to finish 3 miles. It was such a fun workout!
Saturday (Later in the morning): So this is the point where I may have gone a little crazy :) One of my friends invited me to come to the StrikeGym Open House in the later morning/mid afternoon. They were having a 5K Obstacle Challenge and she thought it would be a fun thing for me to participate in. (Again, for those of you who know me, you know that I am totally game for things like this). Since I had some time to kill in between workouts, I showered and rested a bit before heading to the Open House. I opted to wear something super casual instead of my typical "runner-esque" outfit. I got to the Open House and helped my friend N set-up for one of the water stations. Once everything was set-up, I ran to the start line and patiently waited for the race to start with her friend M. M and I had planned on getting through the race together. The race started and .25 miles into the run M told me to just go ahead, so I did. I sped up and started my way up the front towards the top group. I tried pacing myself since the race started at 10:30 and there were obstacles along the way. First obstacles were set-up around .70 miles in and consisted of: 20 Burpees, 20 Pushups, and 20 Squats. After you finished those, you crawled underneath these rings, flipped a tire twice, pulled a tire towards you (I'm not sure how far I had to pull it but it was pretty long), dragged the tire back to it's original place, and then carried buckets (it was called farmer's walk or something like that), before starting back on the run. Here is a picture of the burpee/push up/squat area:
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| I'm up in the front, in the tank and grey pants! |
Once I got back on the run, I decided to break ahead and pick it up. About .20 miles in we had a bear walk (It was probably 100 meters long). After I finished that obstacle, we ran another .15/.20 miles where we had to jump rope 50 times and then crab walk over the bridge. (At this point I think I realized that my hands were torn up. Don't worry I have pictures to share of this lol). I did grab some water and ice since it was ridiculously hot. I stuffed the ice in my sports bra (triathlete tip) to try to cool off my body temperature After the crab walk, we had a good running stretch where I tried to keep up with the front pack and close our gap a little more.
Our next obstacle was pretty much the same as the first one, minus the 20 burpees/pushups/squats). After we finished that round, we had to run to a wall and jump over it. You had two choices between the walls: a big one an a little one. If you chose the little one you had to do 10 burpees, for me this was an easy choice - small wall lol. The first time I tried it I pretty much ran into it lol. The second time I succeeded. Here's a ridiculous picture of it:
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| I laughed so hard when I saw this picture. I look ridiculous. |
After the wall, you had to pull up a 25 pound weight to the top of a light post with a rope and then bring it back down without having it drop down with a clunk. Once you finished that last obstacle, you yelled "Done" to get your time. I honestly didn't hear what time I had finished it in because I just wanted a water.
After the race was over, I looked down and saw my hands ripped to shreds. I should have used gloves (which they had) to do some of the exercises, but I didn't even think about it. The challenges were tough and the run was hard with the heat (I think it was over 90 degrees). I still kicked butt and was in the top 3 overall finishers. I later found out I finished this course in under 33 minutes. Overall, I was extremely impressed with StrikeGym. The workout was tough and they did a good job providing water and ice along the way. The rest of the Open House was fantastic as well!! They had food trucks, free trial gym sessions, and even an appearance by Spiderman!
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| There I am in the bottom center picture carrying the buckets!! |
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| I have such horrible blisters!! My friend M had her hands ripped up a bit as well!
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Saturday night I passed out. I was so tired!! Today I plan on relaxing and not moving especially since I feel like a bus hit me. Tomorrow, Orange Theory :)
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